NEVER THOUGHT I'D END UP HERE

A Chinese American teen ends up stuck with her nemesis on a whirlwind trip.

Seventeen-year-old Leah Zhang is dreading her cousin’s wedding, feeling self-conscious about her Mandarin abilities and her uncertain future after quitting modeling. At the wedding, she’s dismayed to find she’s seated at the same table as her former bully, Cyrus Sui, the subject of her nightmares ever since the Incident. The stress of his unwelcome presence causes Leah to commit a major linguistic faux pas, prompting her parents to send her on a two-week trip around China, run by the local Chinese school, to reconnect with her roots. Of course, Cyrus turns out to be going too. Leah decides this is her chance for revenge: She’ll use her looks and the charm she’s honed through modeling to make him fall for her, before dumping him unceremoniously—and publicly. But as she gets closer to him, Leah starts to wonder if he may not be the nemesis she made him out to be. And the more time she spends in her parents’ homeland, the closer she gets to finding her true place in the world. Shanghai, Anhui, and other picturesque locations form a vibrant backdrop for the couple’s swoony rom-com antics. Though Leah’s revenge plot feels a bit contrived at times and some of the serious topics (intergenerational issues, Sinophobia, and Asian beauty standards) aren’t explored with much depth, romance fans will enjoy watching the couple find their happy ending.

A light and dreamy travel romance.